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People must be treated gently and respectfully.

1 Peter 3:15

There’s a powerful dynamic that Peter writes about in his first letter: “Always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope that lies within you. BUT DO THIS WITH GENTLENESS AND RESPECT” (1 Peter 3:15).

This last phrase tells us about a major key to creating a church environment that is able to reach secular people. It tells us that to accomplish our mission, McLean Bible Church has to create a “safe place” for people.

First, we have to be a “safe place” for followers of Jesus: where we can be real; where we can be honest about our struggles and problems; where we don’t have to “paste on the plastic”; and where we can get genuine help and support instead of condemnation.

Second, we have to be a “safe place” for people who have not yet made a commitment to Jesus: where they can sit and learn and process Biblical information; where they can work through their issues in making a commitment to Jesus; where they can come to a decision point for Christ without feeling pressured, judged, threatened or hurried.

This Core Value is about building a church family where all people can be honest and yet wherewe will still treat people with dignity, respect and courtesy in spite of their imperfections, doubts and struggles.

This is why we say, that at McLean Bible Church, we’re out to be a “Hospital for Sinners, not a Museum for Saints.”